Ghana Still Wallow in dirt for over 56 Years of independence



Ghana Still Wallow in dirt for over 56 Years of independence




As part of governments policy initiatives to address the sanitation situation in the country, the government of Ghana introduced the KVIPs system, otherwise referred to as “Kumasi ventilated improved pits” in the early 1990s to curb open defecation in the country.
Currently, there are a number of these KVIPs constructed and many more are still being built across the country to serve households, now best described in the country. While these KVIPs do not only stink, the only toilet system available to the under-privileged majority of Ghanaians, is usually not  emptied, as required, for months, if not years, making these public places of convenience  and its environ to smell horribly bad.

Indeed, in 2008, the World Health Organisation and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) ranked Ghana as the fourth most unhygienic country on the African continent and the second dirtiest country in West Africa despite the effort made by city authorizes to avert the situation.
 
Indiscriminate open defecation has been on the increase in most parts of the regions in the country and research indicates that more than five million Ghanaian resort to open defecation in all the regions, leading to the outbreak of cholera.

This act of pen defecation is common in the coastal areas where most of the people living along the shores of the sea resort to the place as the only place of convenience.

It is surprising that a whole community solely rely on the beach as their place of convenience, I toured some part of Teshie community along the shore of the sea under the pretext of looking for a room to rent, lo and behold, I found one ready to be hired, I inquire about the facilities, luckily for me there was a bath house, not satisfied, I again inquired about KVIP only for me to be told that there is only one public toilet that serve the whole community and if I want fresh air I should go to the sea shore. I was surprised and shock about the development in the country for the past 56 years of independence. 
 
It is recorded that 4,586 cases and 64 deaths from the cholera outbreak in the country since September 2010, the Greater Accra Region is leading with 2,756 cases and 31 deaths, while the Upper East, Eastern and Central regions and the other regions is hit by epidemic.

Consequently, over four million of Ghana’s population is said to have no access to proper sanitation facilities. This tells how backward Ghana as an independent country is for the past 56 years and still remains as a third world country as compared to its co-equals in other developed countries.

Almost 90% of illnesses on earth are environmentally related. Among these are cholera, typhoid, and diarrhea. Diarrhea is the leading cause of illness and death worldwide. About 88% of these illnesses are said to be caused by poor sanitation or unsafe water. The unsafe water is yet to be solved as the nation again is bedevilled with the upsurge of illegal mining activities emitting harmful chemicals resulting in the pollution of most of our water bodies.

In fact, it is reported that Ghana records over 400,000 out-patient cases of sanitation related diseases, including diarrhea, typhoid, cholera and hepatitis, leading to about 65,000 deaths annually.

It is further reported that Ghana loses over US1 million annually, equivalent to about 1.6% GDP and she is among other 18 African countries said to be investing under 0.1% of their GDP on sanitation.
 
If there should be any critical national issue that we, as Ghanaians should be thinking about, then it should be the issue of an alternative solution to replace the KVIP or properly maintain the toilet system in Ghana and to ensure that newly developed sites and communities should have improved toilet facilities.

The government should engage the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the Ministry of Health, in particular at this crucial moment.

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                                                                                  Writers’ e-mail quaye2000@gmail.com

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